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International Journal of Recent Scientific Research Vol. 4, Issue, 6, pp.1001 1002, July, 2013 ISSN: 0976-3031

International Journal of Recent Scientific Research

RESEARCH ARTICLE REMOVAL OF NUTRIENTS FROM DAIRY WASTE WATER BY USING TWO PHASE UASB REACTOR
*Arunadevi, P. S and Nagarajan, V
PG and Research Department of Zoology, Sri Vasavi College, Erode 638 316. Tamil Nadu, India ARTICLE INFO
Article History:
Received 13th, June, 2013 Received in revised form 25th, June, 2013 Accepted 14th, July, 2013 Published online 30th July, 2013

ABSTRACT
Removal of nutrients from dairy processing wastewater was studied by anaerobic two-phase UASB treatment method. Dairy wastewater is rich in nutrients especially nitrogen and phosphorus. This may due to addition of cleaning agents. The anaerobic treatment method for treating dairy wastewater was considered to be better option than aerobic method. At the same time, maximum removal of nutrients was a problematic one. Thus in the present investigation long-term study (up to 249 days) was conducted. The study period was divided into seven phases based on their Organic Loading Rate (OLR) and Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT). From the results, it was noted that maximum percentage removal of nutrients was observed in the phase II. Utilization of organic nitrogen was markedly higher than that of phosphorus. The reduction rate was reduced when the OLR is raised and also with reducing HRT. This indicates that the decrease in nutrient utilization at higher OLRs is attributed to higher flow and reduction in contact time between nutrients and microbes as well as to nutrient wash out. Copy Right, IJRSR, 2013, Academic Journals. All rights reserved.

Key words:
Sprouts, microorganisms,local markets,Chennai.

INTRODUCTION
Wastewater from dairy processing units is rich in biodegradable organic molecules, nutrients and usually contains high level of fat and proteins. So, dairy industry is noted as significant contributor to pollution. The organic strength of wastewater is higher than that of community waste. The environmental impacts of these units can be very high, especially due to the discharge of very large flows of wastewater with high content of organic matter and nutrients (N and P), which has been the cause of numerous eutrophication problems worldwide (Kalchen and Brev, 1999; Vonder Molen et al., 1999). Moreover, in lagoons and swamps, these two factors (nitrogen and phosphorus) insist algae and microorganisms co-exist, so that the O2 levels of these biotypes are affected.In the present investigation, the dairy wastewater was treated with anaerobic two-phase UASB reactor. Anaerobic treatment of wastewater is better option for high removal of organic matter and also for energy recovery process. The nutrient removal rate was also calculated and reported.

The OLR was increased by increasing the concentration of the effluent. In the VI and VII phases, the OLR was increased by reducing the HRT. During the entire operational period, the reactor performance was monitored carefully. The parameters were analyzed according to the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater analysis following APHA (1998). TKN was measured by MacroKjeldhal method. Total phosphorus was calculated by VanadoMolybdate yellow colour method.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Dairy wastewater was often characterized by high organic content. At the phase-I diluted effluent was fed into the reactor and it was gradually increased by increasing concentration of the effluent in the subsequent phases (Table 1). During the experiment, utilization of organic nitrogen was markedly higher than that of phosphorus. Higher utilization of nitrogen in comparison with phosphorus during the anaerobic treatment was reported by Subramanian and Sastry (1989) and also by Banu et al. (2006). The utilization rate was higher at the initial phases, thus indicating the source of nitrogen was essential for their cell synthesis. Phosphorus was also needed but at a lesser extent. Baloch et al. (2007) stated that high consumption (up to 16%) of influent NH4- N was observed in the acidogenic dominant zone and it is believed that this amount of Nitrogen was assimilated for the synthesis of new microbial growth. Utilization of both nutrients was high at the Phase II. The reduction was 59-72% for Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen and 5458% for Total Phosphorus.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A laboratory scale two-phase anaerobic digestion system was used in this study. It consisted of, i) an acidogenic reactor for the purpose of pre-acidification of the influent and ii) an Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) with internal packing column as the methanogenic reactor.Total reactor performance was monitored for 249 days. It was dived into seven phases, based on their OLR and HRT. The HRT was constant for the first five phases; the HRT for acidogenic reactor was 2 the methanogenic reactor 2.5 days.

* Corresponding author: P. S. Arunadevi PG and Research Department of Zoology, Sri Vasavi College, Erode 638 316. Tamil Nadu, India

International Journal of Recent Scientific Research, Vol. 4, Issue, 7, pp. 1001 - 1002, July, 2013
Table 1 Performance of two phase uasb reactor
PHASES INITIAL Nitrogen mg/l Starter 37-48 56-66 92-105 112-127 91.6-104 85-91 FINAL Nitrogen mg/l Starter 16-12 27-29 42.4-40.6 52-57 42.4-47.5 52-55 % OF REMOVAL Starter 59-72 54-56 56-61 53-55 46-45 39-41 INITIAL Phosphorus mg/l Starter 22-26 30-38 46-52 47-57 41-52 37-46 FINAL Phosphorus mg/l Starter 10-12 17-20 36-34 30-33 30-34 30-34 % OF REMOVAL Starter 54-58 43-47 39-40 36-42 17-33 19-26

PHASE I PHASE II PHASE III PHASE IV PHASE V PHASE VI PHASE VII

Increased organic loading rate at the Phase III reduced the utilization of Nitrogen from 72 to 56%. Similarly, the Phosphorus utilization also fell from 58 to 47%. But, in the subsequent phases, the reduction rate was maintained between 50-60% for TKN and 30-40% for Total Phosphorus. This was continued up to the organic loading rate of 4.01-4.21 kg COD/m3/day at 2 days HRT for acidogenic phase and 2.612.75 kg COD/m3/day at 2.5 days HRT for methanogenic phase. The reduction rate was further reduced when the OLR was raised by reducing HRT. Marked reduction was observed at the Phase VII with 12 hours HRT for the acidogenic reactor and 15 hours for methanogenic reactor. The reduction rate was only 39-41% for TKN and 19-26% for Total Phosphorus. The decrease in nutrient utilization at higher OLRs can be attributed to higher flow rate of the wastewater and the consequent reduction in contact time between nutrients and microbes as well as nutrient washout.

References
APHA (1998). Standard Methods for the Examination of water and wastewater. 20th edition. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC. Kalchen R.K. and Brev I.S. (1999).Long-term eutrophication development in five coastal lakes of the Bulgarian Black sea region. Water Sci Technol., 39:(8), 1235-39. Van der Molen D.T and Portielje R. (1999). Multi-lake studies in the Nettherlands: Trends in eutrophication. Hydrobiologia, 408: 359-365. Subrahmanyam Y.V. and Sastry C.A. (1989). Attached versus suspended biomass ativity in upflow anaerobic filters. J. Ins. Eng., 9: 27-32. Banu R.J., Kaliappan S. and Beck D. (2006). High rate anaerobic treatment of Sago wastewater using HUASB with PUF as carrier. Int. J. Environ. Sci. (Suppl. Winter), 3:(1), 69-77. Baloch M.I., Akunna J.C. and Collier V. (2007). The performance of a phase separated granular bed bioreactor treating brewery wastewater. Biores. Tech., 98, 18491855.

Acknowledgement
The financial assistance through Jawaharlal Nehru Scholarships for Doctoral Studies, by Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund is gratefully acknowledged.

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